What sitcoms say about American voters.

[atomic_joe2]

By Tim Stanley

Comments

[yeats]

i have come to really dislike modern family...increasingly i've noticed how many jokes seem to rely on upholding, rather than subverting gender, ethnic and sexuality stereotypes.

[roseofjuly]

I've noticed that the very few shows who prominently feature non-white, non-heterosexual, non-Christian characters devolve into this eventually.

[toxic_glory]

yes, and they always tend to have this "we're joking, so it's okay!!!!" thing going on, which is really aggravating. hipster racism/sexism/homophobia on my TV is not cute.

[bellichka]

This. Glee, too.

[bananainpyjamas]

Given that it explores race and sexuality with such frankness

Seriously? Gloria is often a stereotype and Mitch and Cam very rarely show physical affection.

[roseofjuly]

I've watched one episode and I was like "This is supposed to be progressive? Sofia Vergara's character is the epitome of the 'spicy Latina' stereotype."

[roseofjuly]

This article is bullshit for a lot of reasons.

Sitcoms are still heavily white. Modern Family is one of the very few sitcoms on television that shows a gay couple in a front role. I don't watch it so I can't say whether or not they stereotype much. But how many primetime shows (or popular shows in general) do you see with African American, Asian American, or Latino stars? Aside from Sofia Vergara? I see less people of color on television than I did in the 1990s.

Family Guy is aired on Fox, which I think has more to do with whether the episode was aired. And I'm pretty sure the Simpsons regularly makes fun of God and religion, and the article is putting some fierce spin on it. I know Family Guy also regularly features Jesus and God, but they make no comment on whether he's "real" and make fun of them. I also disagree that church is not just a social ritual - for a very large number of followers, it totally is. I grew up in a church-going family. It's as much about being seen as pious as it is about faith for a lot of people

[romp]

Sitcoms are still heavily white.

More so than ever as far as I can tell. I'm still waiting for a time when shows like Sandford & Son and Chico and the Man are options again.

[thecityofdis]

I see less people of color on television than I did in the 1990s.

Without question. I grew up on Family Matters, A Different World, Sister/Sister, Fresh Prince, and many others.

What the hell happened?

[roseofjuly]

I have a theory that 9/11 gave people an excuse to be more openly racist again in a variety of ways, and/or erased a lot of the gains people of color made during the late 1980s and 1990s. Terrorism hit and all of a sudden, no brown people could be trusted. I think it's not uncommon do loathing and fear of outgroups to surge when fear is high.

ooops here comes Modern Family hate

[kalikahuntress]

I loathe Modern Family because it belongs to the group of tv shows that want a cookie for actually giving screen time to POC and LGBT characters yet the character development relies on stereotypes that don't challenge or threaten your so called typical TV viewing family.
Popular sitcoms/dramas that supposedly tackle real issues are just shows looking for emmy nominations while congratulating themselves for being real and edgy.

[kishmet]

You know, I think the subject's pretty cool even though I feel the author didn't go far enough with his conclusions. Watching The New Normal's pilot episode, for instance, did show me something about US society: that most of it still isn't ready to accept any gay couples besides semi-heteronormative, attractive, wealthy, white cis dudes, and that they still need a character (the grandmother) to hit the bigot buttons that make them lol. Haha, she mistook that lesbian couple for a gay male couple because they're so butch! Hilarious

[pleasure_past]

Can I just say, just for the record, that worshiping Satan is not the worst thing that anyone could possibly do ever? Like, I understand why it's offensive to Atheists to be told they worship Satan when they don't, but I do get kind of irritated sometimes by how much time other non-Christians spend shouting from the rooftops that they aren't Satanists, as if discrimination against Satanists is totally okay.

[/unnecessary defensiveness]

[kishmet]

Oh believe me, I take no issue with Satanism or Satanists in general (particularly secular Satanists). I included socialism and Obamacare in that tirade and I'm all for those lol. It's just irksome that all of those accusations are thrown at liberals and secularists as if they're negatives (and true for atheists across the board in the case of the Satanism charge) and I'm the one who's usually chided for getting annoyed.

In fact I share your ire in that I REALLY can't point out in mixed company that Satanism isn't inherently negative or that in Christian source texts Satan tends to come across as more sympathetic than God

[lizzy_someone]

This...is a really good point.

If I, as an atheist, were not averse to worshipping anything, Satan seems like he'd actually be a pretty good choice.